Autologous adipose tissue transplantation is performed by many surgeons for various cosmetic and reconstructive procedures, particularly those relating to the face, hands and other areas. Public confidence in and comfort with synthetic materials (e.g., silicone and teflon) and foreign tissues (e.g., bovine collagen) has declined. Conversely, the interest in and demand for autologous adipose tissue transplantation has risen.
Autologous fat transplantation involves the procurement of adipose tissue by liposuction techniques from an area of abundance, and re-injection of the harvested adipose tissue into a different site of the same individual for cosmetic/reconstructive augmentation or enhancement purposes. Generally, adipose tissue must be as `clean` or refined as possible before re-introduction to maximize the chances of graft survival. Such refinement preferably is done with as little exposure of the tissue to air as possible (i.e., "anaerobic tissue handling").
Unfortunately, the nature of liposuction procedures preclude easy tissue isolation after initial harvest (especially on a large scale) because the volume and/or viscosity of `raw` liposuction effluent also contains unwanted components, e.g., oil, blood and anesthetic solution. Currently, there are no standard techniques, methods, or devices that exist for the simple, large scale isolation and refinement of liposuction-harvested adipose tissue. Although patented cannulas, needles and methods for tissue harvest and preparation exist, these techniques are tedious, inefficient and require a pseudo-sterile centrifugation step.
Several devices exist for the isolation of certain cells. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,035,708 and 5,372,945, issued to Alchas et al., describe an endothelial cell procurement and deposition kit and a device and method for collecting and processing fat tissue and procuring microvessel endothelial cells to produce endothelial cell products. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,833, issued to Hu et al., discloses a microvessel cell isolation apparatus, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,914, issued to Uhlen et al., discloses a method for extrapolating extrachromosomal DNA, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,074, issued to Beritashvili et al., discloses a centrifuge for separating multiple substances from a mixture. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,207, issued to Katz et al., discloses a device for separating adipose tissue.
The present invention, however, is superior to existing inventions. It offers a simpler design, material and manufacturing methodology. Further, none of the devices disclosed above addresses the special concerns presented by working with adipose tissue and preparing it for immediate autologous adipose tissue transplantation, explant culture endeavors or cell dissociations. Thus, although various techniques and devices for cell separation are well documented in the literature, a need exists for a device and method that is more expeditious, efficacious, accessible and practical than current devices and methods.